It was certainly a strange sight, but Leticia was not greatly surprised. Lately, she had been seeing spirits she had never seen before appearing at all times. The spirits scattered throughout the empire had become excited upon hearing the news of Leticia’s pregnancy and came to visit.
“Hello.”
So she thought, once again, a new spirit must have appeared.
“What’s your name?” she asked, believing that the wings protecting her were thorough.
However, instead of a response, there was a chirping sound. Leticia tilted her head, listening carefully.
“Strange. I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
She could understand the words of spirits, but she could not comprehend the words of this bird.
“Could it not be a spirit?”
Leticia cautiously observed the bird. Its black eyes were like jewels. It was unfamiliar, but she was not overly worried. She was certain that the imperial palace was the safest place in the empire. The barrier of the wings guarded it perfectly, so no evil force could possibly penetrate it.
“Can I touch you?”
Perhaps because of this, she said it unconsciously. It was a bit strange. Normally, she would have been a bit more cautious. For some reason, she did not feel that way at all.
Chirp―. As if noticing Leticia’s feelings, the bird chirped seductively. A sweet fragrance wafted every time it flapped its wings. Before she knew it, her green eyes became dreamy as if she were dreaming. Leticia slowly raised her hand.
‘Why am I doing this?’
Simultaneously, an answer floated into her mind.
‘It must be because everyone is protecting me.’
Recently, Leticia had been spending remarkably peaceful days. Everyone she knew had been protecting her. As if she were a baby in a cradle, they treated her so delicately that worry seemed like a concern of another world.
‘It should be fine.’
Moreover,
‘I have seen this color often.’
A blue as splendid as sapphire and as lovely as the autumn sky. It was so beautiful that she could not take her eyes off it, yet at the same time, it was sad.
‘Why am I like this?’
Leticia’s eyes grew moist.
‘My heart hurts so much.’
To hold back her tears, Leticia bit her lips firmly. However, clear tears soon trickled down her cheeks.
The black eyes of the blue bird gazed silently at Leticia. Swallowing her tears with effort, Leticia thought.
‘Why have I left that bird alone until now?’
Feeling that she had to embrace it immediately, she unconsciously reached out her white hand towards the bird. The bird hopped onto her palm as if it had been waiting.
“Oh.”
A sigh escaped her at that moment. There was no sense of weight at all. It felt like she was holding air.
“Hello. Nice to meet you.”
Leticia stroked the bird with trembling hands. Only then did she finally feel a sense of relief. Yet, tears kept flowing. Leticia eventually burst into tears. The air shimmered strangely. The bird’s beak tapped her palm.
Chirp― chirp. The bird’s sound grew louder. A low chuckle overlapped with it. Clear tears dropped. She could not stop crying. She was so sad that her whole body tingled. The bird’s beak pressed into her palm.
「…As I expected, it succeeded.」
A familiar voice. But there was no time to think about who it was. The sadness was swallowing her like a swamp. It felt like she would sink and disappear at this rate. The sharp beak dug into her white skin. Red blood slowly spread. Leticia, unaware of the pain, kept crying.
「Why is there no trace left?」
Leticia suddenly opened her eyes. It felt like cold water had been poured over her, bringing her to her senses. She blinked rapidly. The tears that had welled up flowed down.
「The trace of the curse. Where did it go!」
It was Rehir.
“…Gasp.”
Leticia stepped back in shock. The blue bird flew away. A sharp pain spread from her palm. Reflexively looking down at her hand, Leticia gasped in surprise. Blood was flowing. Rehir’s voice pounded in her head.
「Leticia! What did you do! Who is taking your curse for you!」
Red blood dripped from her white fingertips and soaked into the ground. Leticia clutched her wrist, panting. Not far away, the blue bird was watching her silently. Leticia’s face turned pale.
“Rehir?”
What in the world was going on? How could such an evil force infiltrate the imperial palace? Could the barrier of the wings have been broken? No, it had not. The shield that Julia had created still enveloped the entire palace. Nearby, she could see the cleansing flames burning brightly.
“How could this happen…!”
Not only that, but just a few steps away, Irene’s light was fluttering. The trees blessed by the earth’s grace were writhing. The princess’s beasts were lurking around.
‘Why can’t anyone recognize him?’
The surroundings were filled with the goddess’s followers. Yet, no one recognized Rehir. Even though Leticia was hurt, no one noticed. Normally, the moment Leticia’s blood touched the ground, there would be chaos.
“Haa. Haa.”
Leticia could hardly breathe from the fear. It felt as if a massive wall had formed between her and the spirits. It was then.
“Lady Leticia!”
Crash! The sound of something breaking made Leticia take a deep breath. The surrounding noise suddenly became louder. Leticia staggered backward. At the same time, the bird flew away. The bird’s flight seemed twice as slow. Leticia collapsed, her legs giving way.
“Lady Leticia!”
Noel urgently supported her. She had no time to respond. Leticia watched the receding bird with unblinking eyes.
‘It hurts.’
It was strange. Seeing Rehir’s minion leave made her so sad. Rehir’s voice was evil, but that bird was not.
“Ah.”
It felt like her heart was being torn apart. She was so sad and in so much pain. Leticia curled up, sobbing like a groan.
“Lady Leticia! Are you alright? Oh no, Banessa! Bring Kailas, quickly!”
“No, please…”
She couldn’t let it go like this, she couldn’t lose it again. She cried for a long time, not even knowing what she was losing.
* * *
Rehir stared at the screen floating in the air with an expression of disbelief. Only the blue sky filled the screen. It was what the bird saw as it flew into the sky.
“Where did the traces of the curse disappear to!”
For a moment, the imperial palace appeared again. But it had already shrunk to the size of a fingernail. Rehir stomped his foot as he looked at Julia’s barrier wavering above the palace.
“Damn it, damn it!”
Rehir grabbed the screen roughly. It vanished into his hand as if the fog had lifted.
“Sigmund! What kind of trick did you pull? What!”
According to the original plan, the moment the bird approached Leticia, the dark power should have been infused into her body.
If that had happened, the curse gripping her heart would have manifested immediately, causing her to bleed and die before Sigmund could intervene. But Leticia was unharmed. The dark power had flowed away somewhere, like water pouring into a bottomless jar.
“Damn it!”
Crash!
His anger reached a boiling point. He grabbed and threw whatever he could get his hands on. The disappearance of the curse’s trace and Noel’s quick response were unbearable.
“There is still a chance.”
Rehir turned his head sharply.
On the bed sat a boy, still and quiet. It was Julios, whom Rehir had resurrected earlier. It had only been a few weeks, but much had changed. His body had grown significantly, and the cloudy look in his eyes had regained focus. This was a result of the new body merging with Julios’s soul.
Rehir, glaring at Julios, approached him with large strides. He grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him up. Julios’s body hung limply.
“I’ll take more of your soul.”
Julios’s eyes widened slightly. At the same time, Rehir’s hand pierced through Julios’s chest.
“Ugh.”
The blue eyes bulged in pain, unable to even scream. Ignoring the trembling Julios, Rehir admired his hand.
“It’s still the same. It’s incredibly pure and beautiful.”
Amazingly, his hand was not stained with blood at all. Instead, it flickered with a brilliant blue flame, the same color as the feathers of the bird that had just pecked Leticia.
“How can a human soul be so clean?”
It was like an unending spring. No matter how many times he infused it with dark power, it would only become momentarily tainted before clearing up again.
“I feel like experimenting to see how long you can last.”
Rehir smirked and grabbed the floating flame. He then pulled his hand out.
“Ugh…!”
Julios’s body convulsed violently as if his soul was being ripped out alive. With a thud, he collapsed, his eyes turning black and then back to normal repeatedly. Rehir watched Julios battle the darkness with keen interest.
“Even after losing another piece of his soul, he still endures so steadfastly. Indeed, the Law of Causality must truly love him.”
No ordinary human could possibly fight against the darkness for so long. They would have crumbled like a tree with broken branches the moment their soul was first torn apart.
But Julios endured. Like a tree that sprouts new shoots even after all its branches have been broken, his delicate will fought desperately against the darkness. Of course, it was ultimately meaningless. The outcome had already been determined. No matter how strong his will, he could not defy his fate. Eventually, the day would come when all his branches would break, and even the trunk would be shattered.
The funny thing was, Julios already knew all this. That made it even more amusing to Rehir. Julios’s suffering was a delicacy to the Law of Causality. In other words, Julios’s struggle was utterly pointless.
Either way, just by existing, he was bound to harm Leticia. Whether he had his soul completely stolen and was swallowed by darkness or whether he satisfied the Law of Causality with his suffering, he only made Rehir stronger.
“What meaning is there in delaying the inevitable, struggling so desperately? It’s laughable.”
Chirp―.
At that moment, the bird that had pecked Leticia flew in through the window. Rehir reached out with a satisfied smile.
“Come here, my treasure.”
The bird flew over and landed on Rehir’s hand. Simultaneously, the piece of Julios’s soul that had been torn away earlier seeped into the bird.
“Try again. You can pass through the goddess’s barrier. The vigilance will be heightened for a while. But time is on our side.”
Chirp―.
The bird chirped.
“Now, go.”
Just then, Julios struggled to open his eyelids. The image of Rehir’s receding figure and the blue bird in his hand imprinted on his retinas.
‘No.’
Despair washed over him as he saw his soul leaving to harm Leticia once more. Julios clenched his fists tightly.
‘Still, somehow.’
Even in despair, he had to endure. Sigmund was protecting Leticia. So was the goddess. The eight wings and Dietrian were by her side.
‘So, somehow.’
If he could just hold out until his soul was completely consumed, if he could buy them time to prepare for the darkness.
‘Even if I am completely devoured by the darkness.’
They would find a way. They would destroy him as Rehir’s weapon and stop Rehir.
‘So, if I can just endure…’
His vision gradually blurred. Blink.
‘But.’
Blink. His focus wavered, then sharpened, then wavered again.
